Stories.
Our lives are filled with stories. We watch films and we read books. We listen to the tales of friends, family and acquaintances; stories of lives filled with love, loss and everything in between. We crave the words of others, in our attempt to make sense of life and situate ourself on the map of human experience. We hear stories in music, we see stories in photographs and art and we feel stories through the emotion of people around us. Tales are the invisible currency of human relationships.
Though we have a need for the stories of the people around us, we have a greater necessity to tell ourselves our very own tale. We do this to create a sense of identity and to get a deeper understanding of ourselves, our values and our priorities. Subconsciously, we create an invisible scrapbook of memories. We have a particular filing system for these memories; people and life events that touch us deeply are usually memories that we glue tightly into our scrapbooks. No matter how many times we open the book, these pictures will never fall. Memories that do not move us quite so profoundly are the ones that are simply placed inside the book. With the passing of time, it is likely that these souvenirs may fall and be lost forever. There is a third classification in our memory scrapbook; the bad times that weigh heavily on our emotions. Though we may not want to guard these memories at all, they become stuck at the back of the book. Most of the time we will choose to open other pages, yet there will be times when a playful wind blows through the open window, flicking the unsuspecting scrapbook onto the back page. We may be forced to revisit this episode of out lives, before quickly flicking back to the front of the book.
Life is about the acquisition of good memories with which wel fill our personal scrapbooks. Like any good story, there will be highs and lows, yet ultimately we will create our happy ending. The great thing about having this kind of book, is that we can delve into it at any time and relive any moment of our life. However, before we open such a book, we almost always do something special; we put on a pair of rose-tinted glasses. These glasses serve to embellish the story, the words and images take on a softer and sweeter hue when seen through these lenses. Whilst the good times become even greater in our mind, the bad times tend to lose their power. The passage of time has worked its magic and has taken away the acuteness of our vision. When we see these images from the past, they are softer and less clearly defined. Our vision is no longer struck by their sharp, jagged edges, so we are not affected in the same way.
Reminiscing in going back to a ‘safe’ place. It can offer us a certain escape from the present moment; a time in which uncertainty can fill us with fear. As we know the outcome to all that happened in the past, there is comfort in travelling back; a little like watching a much-loved film over and over again. However, we must be mindful that whilst it’s natural to relive all the wonderful memories we have had and to learn from our previous experience, we must busy ourselves collecting new memories to fill our scrapbooks. As we are the authour of this work, we alone choose what should go inside. Nobody will ever be able to judge this choice, for nobody will have ever lived the same experience.
So please go out into the world and collect your clippings. Create beautiful books to be proud of. Flick through them as you please, relishing all the fun you’ve ever had and knowing that the blank pages ahead can surpass all expectations.
Shiny Happy Me 